I have two spooky pieces of entertainment to share with you guys! One is a book my friend Melody sent me and another is a movie composed of four short stories. You'll get chills while reading or watching these, but both will also linger on in your mind some time later.
Starting with the book: In the Dark of the Night by John Saul:
I could think of a handful of reasons right off the bat why Melody sent me this! The story takes place in Northern Wisconsin in an area I'm well familiar with. So it's easy for me to picture the setting. I don't think I'm giving too much away here to say that it involves some crime stories that would be very familiar to those in my state. So between the familiar setting, the true crime that is still fairly fresh, and feeling like I know some of these characters, it was easy for me to get into the book.
I think any of you would like this, though. If you're in the general Midwest area it's probably going to resonate with you more, but I'm sure it would be a scary story to anyone. I'm trying to think how I could encourage you guys to read this without giving away the many surprises and twists... OK, I can give a general idea of some themes. There's some realistic family, friend, and teen romance drama going on. There's a murder mystery or two which are centered around an old piece of property and the person who used to live there. And there's a theme that I say would fall loosely between a haunting and a possession.
You'll be left thinking about the power of previously owned objects, and the very real feeling I'm sure any of us could have around the ones in this story. I'm sure all of us have felt some kind of emotion around an object in a museum or antique store or maybe you've had a feeling in a place where an emotional event occurred. Think of that feeling but in an extreme way and you'll understand a major theme in this book. I hope that's enough to intrigue you guys because In the Dark of the Night is very worth reading! This was a book I couldn't put down and I haven't experienced that in some time. I will probably be seeking out more John Saul books in the near future.
I was hoping to find one of those book trailers for this on YouTube, but I couldn't find one. I did, however find this neat video featuring the author:
Now, on the surface this would appear to be a video about an amazing RV, but it's actually a lot more fun than that. I mean, this is the best RV I've ever seen but I wouldn't share a video solely about it. You'll get to see some of the author's personality here, which I really liked. I want to take a road trip with these guys!
Now onto The House that Dripped Blood!
What a title and what a cover. Not that the image necessarily makes sense for those who've watched this; it kind of halfway does. Now, as I read one online reviewer say, the house does not literally drip blood. So if you're looking for that kind of entertainment for whatever reason, well you won't get that here. But what you will get is a pretty darn good series of stories revolving around a spooky old mansion. Much like what I wrote about the book, the house is defined somewhere between haunted and possessed. It's a great old house. The interior reminded me of Disney's Haunted Mansion. Each story is about a tenant who briefly lived there.
The House that Dripped Blood is very much in the vein of Hammer horror movies, but better. And I'm a Hammer fan. Christopher Lee is in one of these, as is Peter Cushing. And they have that dark, 1970s, British thing going on. But the acting, the timing, the writing, everything is so much better than Hammer. I love Hammer for its cheesiness. But you're not going to see any of that orangey-red Hammer blood gushing around here or tons of cleavage. The House that Dripped Blood is actually rated PG and I think that's fair. The violence is implied, there's no sexuality, strong language, etc. I think an older kid could watch this, depending on the kid. I could have, anyway. A good comparison to this is Tales from the Crypt. You know, the way they got morality in there a bit. Yeah, it's like Tales from the Crypt writing with Hammer settings, actors, and visuals.
Again, without giving much away... The stories involve a homicidal maniac (OK actually a few of those), some Voodoo or "Witchcraft" as they call it, and vampires. The stories have a sort of brief narration/are introduced by the police who are investigating one of these cases. The stories range from scary to comical. I actually thought to look up The House that Dripped Blood at our local library because of seeing a picture from it on Tumblr. This picture:
I mean, how could I not look for it after seeing that? :)
So, if you're looking for some scary or fun (depending on your opinion) popcorn movie viewing, I recommend this one! And good news! I just found the whole thing on YouTube:
I'm sure that by now many of you know that Christopher Lee has passed away. I'll probably be far from the only person to write a blog post in tribute to him, but I'm still going to share a few thoughts. This morning I was surprised to read on Twitter that he had died. Not that I could be all that surprised that a 93-year-old died, but Christopher Lee has been a fixture for my entire life and for people a lot older than me! He's one of those people it seems has always been around, confidently striding out onto the screen with an air of sophistication in one scary role or another.
He was a real inspiration who showed that a person could still be cool in their 90s. A lot of people just hang up the towel and declare themselves "old" decades and decades before they're in their 90s. But there he was, recently acting and singing in a metal band! He was cooler in his 90s than a lot of people are at any age.
What made Christopher Lee the natural vampire was the regal way in which he carried himself and that voice! Not that you heard much of it in those Hammer Dracula films, but the little bit you did hear was so deep and powerful. He seems like he should have been doing Shakespeare, almost like he was slumming it in those Dracula movies. Sometimes I think he knew that, because when I look at his eyes before he's about to bite someone he looks sort of bored and disgusted by his prey. It's like he's thinking "Centuries of these dumb girls. Oh well, a neck's a neck."
Are we having fun yet?
But he sure looked lively during those fight scenes with Peter Cushing! Like in this scene from Horror of Dracula:
It occurred to me that I'd watched Christopher Lee die as Dracula so many times in these movies and then somehow be resurrected in the sequels, that it's weird for me to think of him actually being gone. But like Dracula, he does have a sort of immortality. Christopher Lee will live on forever through the many movies he made. That's the almost magical thing about actors, that so long as they exist on film somewhere, they still live on for their audience. Most of us had never met Christopher Lee, so all we'd ever seen of him was in his movies. So when you watch him, as I plan to do tonight, his greatness will still be there for you as a movie viewer as much as it ever was.
Before last week, I had never watched a Hammer Horror movie. Meaning, that I had strangely never seen Christopher Lee in the role of Dracula. I know his version of Dracula is a classic and I really meant to get around to watching him at some point. I just hadn't. As you know, I liked Christopher Lee in his role as Willy Wonka's father in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I also liked him as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
So, I had only watched an older Christopher Lee in movies. It was interesting to see him as a younger actor, playing Dracula. He had some very graceful moves, which were accentuated by that huge cape. From just watching him on the screen, I could tell he was tall and had a strong presence. At times, a commanding presence. His Dracula was able to control people with just one look. You can see him work his magic on the ladies in this video, which is set to some nice Tango music midway through:
To return to where I began, I'm pretty new to Hammer's version of Dracula. The reason that I'm up to date now is that my Mom gave me a 4 DVD set of Hammer's Dracula movies for Christmas. I'm not usually one to watch a lot of movies, but I was sick last week. So it was a good time to lay on the couch and get a steady diet of Dracula. The movies in this set are: Horror of Dracula (1958), Dracula has Risen From the Grave (1968), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) and Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972). I'm not going to review these in great detail, because four movie reviews would take forever to write. That, and watching four Dracula movies in succession while having a head cold sort of made them blend together.
To be brief.... Strangely, Horror of Dracula was my least favorite. I say strangely, because usually the first movie in a series is my favorite. I think the problem here was that I had already read Bram Stoker's Dracula. I felt that too much artistic license was being taken in this movie. As in the book, there were characters like Jonathan Harker and Lucy, but major parts of the story had been changed. It wasn't a bad movie, I just wish they would have left the original plot alone.
Dracula has Risen From the Grave had Dracula at his most violent. In all the other movies, he was able to seduce people and put them instantly under his spell. This time he was more frustrated, loud, and willing to slap people. Aside from Dracula's aggression, I enjoyed the movie. It has more religion in the plot, as a Monsignor attempts to exorcise Dracula's castle. There's also a cute little love story between the Monsignor's niece and a local baker.
Taste the Blood of Dracula was great. I actually cared about the characters in this one. The main plot revolves around a group of sleazy older men who are looking for cheap thrills. One of the meanest sleaze balls has a nice wife and daughter who he more or less keeps locked up and mentally abuses. Meanwhile, he's out visiting a bordello. Go figure. When the bordello is no longer providing enough fun for him and his friends, they decide to dabble in the black arts. This involves "tasting the blood of Dracula". This one is great fun and I liked how the story ended.
Dracula A.D. 1972... Oh boy. Well, this is the movie that I was most looking forward to in the DVD set. After watching the trailer, I had low expectations but in the very best of ways. Meaning, I expected a cheese fest. It was actually pretty good! The movie was heavy on the silly dance moves, 70's clothing, hilarious lingo, and someone's weird interpretation of hippies. Just great. The basic plot involves the current Van Helsing's granddaughter Jessica, who is hanging around with a bunch of bad seeds. Her friends are sassy swinging kids, who party hard and think it would be fun to play around with Satanic rites. Of course, this does not go well.
(Jessica Van Helsing and her groovy hairdo)
Overall, Hammer movies have a definite style to them. I like the way the movies are filmed, sometimes at weird angles, or looking through trees and windows. There are shadows everywhere and great uses of light. One of my two complaints is that the fake blood could use a little work. It looked like bright red paint, red velvet cake batter, or ketchup. That and the blood seriously never dried! It could be days after the blood was spilled and it would still be sitting in the same neon red, unrealistic pool.
My one other complaint is that Christopher Lee didn't have many lines in these films. I was joking the other day about how he didn't even need to speak English to play this role. He has such an amazing voice too! Here's a little sample of his voice in an old interview from the 1980s. I always like to watch interviews with the actors who played Horror movie villains. It's fun to listen to them just being nice, normal people.
If you're wondering what Christopher Lee is up to nowadays, then this next video will answer that for you! At the age of 89, he is adventurously trying out something called "Symphonic Metal" music. You have to admire that!
Yesterday, I paid a visit to my dentist. No, my dentist isn't Christopher Lee, but I liked this photo too much not to include it. I also loved this view from inside a mouth! This photo is of Christopher Lee in his role as Willy Wonka's strict dentist father in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (The 2005 version)
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I had a pleasant time at my dental appointment. I had a cool dental hygienist who used chocolate cookie dough flavored paste on my teeth (or whatever it is they use) and she even let me choose a radio station for the office to listen to! I felt like I was hanging out with a friend, a friend who was digging around in my mouth anyway...
After the hygenist was done cleaning my teeth, the dentist came in for his customary two awkward seconds with me. My dentist (for reasons I don't understand) puts on glasses with multiple lenses and lights to inspect my teeth. Either he has severe sight problems or is going for a Steampunk look. His glasses seriously resemble the goggles that Johnny Depp wore in "Sleepy Hollow." I can't bear to make eye contact with him while he is wearing these. If I did, I know I'd start laughing! Sadly, any comparisons between my dentist and Johnny Depp end with the glasses.
A little awkwardness with my goggle-eyed dentist is nothing compared to having to deal with the Dentist played by Steve Martin in "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986)
There was also a (terrible) version of "Little Shop of Horrors" made in 1960. Jack Nicholson was pretty much the only entertaining part of this for me. Here he is playing the role of the masochist:
Haha, and I thought I had a fun time at the dentist! :) I'm not sure how old Jack Nicholson was in this movie, but I think he was a teenager. I ran across a cute Jack Nicholson quote. When looking back on the reaction at the screening for this movie, he said...
The audience laughed so hard I could barely hear the dialogue. I didn't
quite register it right. It was as if I had forgotten it was a comedy
since the shoot. I got all embarrassed because I'd never really had such
a positive response before.
I had the same response to his performance as the audience at that screening, although almost every Jack Nicholson performance makes me laugh!
